starting point" with soledad o'brien starts right now. good morning, welcome, everybody. starting point, gun control in the spotlight. the vice president and his task force meet with victims today to try to prevent another massacre before the nra gets the floor. what we can expect in a live report this morning. take me out to the hall of fame? today we'll learn the new baseball hall of fame class. should players tainted by the steroid era make it in? the u.s. government spent more than $100 billion to save aig, poster child for the bad bailouts. why is the insurance giant saying it got a raw deal and considering suing the government. and a great white shark threatening florida beaches. how scientists in utah sent a warning. we'll speak with ron

johnson, jen psaki, dan shaughnes shaughnessy, and jenn sterger. actress and model who had her own moment with brent musburger. and model cameron russell, who will tell us why she doesn't think girls should be models. "starting point" begins right now. welcome, everybody. starting point this morning, the nra and the white house, 24 hours from a face-to-face gun control conversation. national rifle association confirming it will meet with vice president biden's gun violence panel tomorrow. they don't sown so thrilled about it. we're sending a rep to hear what they have to say. president spokesman jay carney responded with this. >> we look forward to hearing from a variety of organizations and civic groups and others.

who have insights into this problem. >> the nra is here to here what the white house has to say. >> the process is designed to get input. >> sounds kind of circular doesn't it? dan lothian in washington, d.c. for thus morning. dan, sounds like it could be a little bit chilly. a different conversation with the victims of gun violence, meeting with the vice president as well. let's talk about the two meetings. >> well, first of all, the nra as you pointed out, could be very chilly. they have expressed concerns, a rot of focus on gun control, but not enough focus on issues such as mental health or violent video games, things they believe contribute to gun violence and that's where they believe the focus should be. the nra has come out, saying there should be armed guards at al schools to prevent another

violent attack like we saw in connecticut. that's the position of the nra. they are coming here to listen to what it is nah the vice president and his group might have to say. the vice president and his group saying they are putting these meetings together to listen to what the nra and other organizations have to say. they could pud together policy proposals, so the president can figure out where he wants to go on gun violence. in addition to options that this group will eventually put on the table, they believe there are steps that congress can take right now, such as reinstatement of the ban on assault weapons, closing loopholes, and limiting high capacity magazines, issues that some lawmakers have already expressed interest in taking up right now. those can be put forward and address gun violence right away. in the meantime, the vice

president trying to come up with other options. >> walmart not taking part. the biggest gun retailer in the country. an interesting exception to the conversations. >> that's right. and it's sort of raising eyebrows out there, because the white house issues an invitation to various groups, pointed out, the nra tomorrow, today, the white house will be sitting down with victims groups and gun safety groups. reaching out to hollywood, entertainment, video gaming companies, to sit down and talk about gun violence. walmart says it's a scheduling matter here. and they said unfortunate, we are unable to attend, but we are having ongoing conversations. we take the sale of firearms very seriously and are committed to the responsible sale of firearms. so unclear whether or not

walmart will join further conversations in the future. but at this point, no accepting the invitation to join the conversation now. >> the schedule, just so packed. interesting. >> dan lothian, thank you for your time this morning. reports the governor of new york will announce a machine for stiff new gun laws in the wake of the newtown school massacre. "the new york times" says one of the most restrictive bans on assault weapons is on the table. cuomo wants to tighten existing laws, broaden the number of laws and ammo magazines that law will cover. it's this comment by the governor to a radio station that has gun rights advocates up in arms. the governor confirming "confiscation could be an option." when he announces his new proposals later today in his state of the state address. vermont's largest city passing a measure banning semi automatic weapons. critics wore hunter's orange. the ban goes to committee, and the public will vote and send it

to the state legislature all before it can become a law. a few hours, the preliminary hearing for the accused aurora movie theater shooter will resume. one day after prosecutors revealed disturbing evidence in the case. the hearing will determine if, in fact, holmes should stand trial. yesterday, they played two of the dozens of 911 calls from the theater, including one where 30 shots could be heard fired in less than 30 seconds. here is the father of how one of the victims responsed to that. >> i mean, just any one of those shots could have been the one that killed alex. if it wasn't, it hurt somebody else. killed one of the other people who we have become friends with. it was horrific. >> cnn's casey wian in centennial, colorado, for thus morning. the prosecution about to wrap up the case. how has it gone for them so far on what they are trying to

accomplish? >> soledad, they have been able to accomplish quite a bit. clearly trying to show the james holmes methodically planned this attack for a long time. capable of doing that. to counter what is expected to be a limited metal capacity defense. they have shown he booby trapped his apartment in an effort, an elaborate scheme involving remote controlled cars, fishing line, diversionary smoke devices, napalm. he began purchasing firearms in may 2012, he purchased 6,300 rounds of ammunition. two smoke grenades, and went so far as he registered on two at the same timing -- dating

websites, and he asked will you visit me in prison? showing he knew what he was doing and what the consequences might be? back to you. john berman with an update on the rest of the day's stories. >> is it possible there won't be a single u.s. troop on afghan soil by the end of next year? the administration considering leaving behind 15,000 troops, but now the president is open to ays scenario that involves a tol pullout. afghan president hamm i had karzai and president obama meet friday in washington. history made this year at the presidential inauguration. richard blanco will serve as the inauguration poet. he is the youngest and first latino. beyonce, kelly clarkson and james taylor will be musical

guests. tune in to cnn for special coverage. live on the mall starting at 5:00 a.m. that day. january 22nd may be the day that hillary clinton testifies on the deadly attack in benghazi. she returned to work after being sidelined for weeks by illness. she is open to testify before she leaves her post. hugo chavez' inauguration was scheduled to happen tomorrow, but treatment for cancer and a severe lung infection will keep him in cuba. does the constitutional lou the inauguration to be delayed? who is president in the meantime? an opposition leader is asking the high court if an inauguration later is even possible. we could see all-time baseball greats shut out.

barry bonds, roger sosa, and mike piazza and curt schilling on top of the list. "boston globe" dan shaughnessy called the ballot poison and hard ball anthrax. >> so shy when he talks about this issue. >> dan shaughnessy knows how to write controversy. and as vice president biden's gun task force meese, do conservative arguments hold water? we'll speak with ron johnson about that, and about financial issues and the government as well. >> absolutely. the most magical place on earth, is mickey mouse keeping close eye on you, the new wristbands concerned about mickey mouse's big brother. "starting point" back in a moment.

auto i you

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you are likely to bruise more easily on xarelto®, and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. tell your doctors you are taking xarelto® before any planned medical or dental procedures. before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver or bleeding problems. ready to change your routine? ask your doctor about once-a-day xarelto®. for more information including cost support options, call 1-888-xarelto or visit goxarelto.com. . welcome back. i'm christine romans. minding your business this morning. futures mixed as earnings season begins to heat up. sales for alcoa, the largest aluminum producer in america, beat forecasts. 3.3% is what earnings are expected to rise. aig, poster child for the most hated bailout of the

financial crisis will consider today whether to join a lawsuit against the government. a lawsuit claiming aig got a raw deal when taxpayers saved it in 2008. the suit led by former ceo hank greenberg comes as aig launches a pr campaign to say thank you to taxpayers. magic bands at the magic kingdom. you go to meet snow white and she knows your child's name, it it's your room key, it will be a little like big brother. >> of course. that's why they put the toys low, so they can get you to spend more money. >> a shorter line is worth it. you can opt in, don't have to share all of your information. disney has the information they can use to tailor the information. >> that's the cost of moving

through faster, i support that. moving on, we were telling you about this week's white house meetings on gun and gun violence. today, victims of gun violence are meeting with the vice president. tomorrow, the nra, we are sending a rep to hear what they have to say. i'm talking to ron johnson. >> nice to be here. >> we'll talk budge net a moment. these cups are incredible. we know a little bit about what the president is planning to put on the table. and i'll throw up a little bit of what we know. universal background checks, that's being floated. tougher mental health exams, stronger penalties for carrying firearms near the school. what do you think of these proposals that we're hearing about from the white house? >> first, i'm glad that they are looking at a broad range of issues here. i don't think there will be one single solution to this. quite honest, i don't known

there is a solution out of washington, d.c. in this case. these tragedies are horrific, but the fact of the matter is, we have a constitution and we do need to guard our freedoms and whether are you talking about gun rights, you are smacking right up against the second amendment. video games, mental health issues, these are difficulty issues to grapple with. i'm a little concerned they will try and rush this thing through, try and pass legislation out of washington, d.c. within a month, and i don't think washington, d.c. is capable of solving the problem. >> let's go back to the second amendment. oftentimes, the minute you start talking about gun control, people say i'm a second amendment supporter. it says a well regulated militia, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed which has a wide range of interpretations, of

course, and what people are arguing about. >> yes. >> is there a middle ground? christine and i were talking about this yesterday. it seems like there is a conversation with the ar-15s and they are coming for my guns, and no one has a conversation in the mid thael would keep small children safe in a school. what does the middle ground lock like to you? >> maybe that's what we'll get out of the meeting on thursday. >> what does it look like? you could draft it right now yourself. an a plus from the nra, how would you draft it? middle ground? >> i'm not in that position to draft it. what i'm looking at is what is all the evidence? quite honestly, this isn't my big issue, i am here because we are bankrupting this nation, but when you take a look at the evidence, assault weapons bans, and that's a term really created by anti gun lobbyists, quite honestly to make it sound scary.

these are lawful weapons that can be used in hunting, and you take a look at bans, they simply didn't work. we have gun-free school zones and that's where people go to kill children. so i wish there was some magic wand you could wave, prevent things from happening. these massacres are perpetrated by sick, demented and evil individuals. >> who have access to guns, though. >> i understand. law-abiding citizens get guns and criminals, even if we have laws, criminals will still have access to dangerous weapons. whether there are guns. i don't want to start throwing ideas into people's heads, but say people -- >> it disturbs me i don't hear a middle ground ever. >> let's sit back and listen to what comes out of white house meetings. i have a flexible mind. willing to give the president and the vice president the benefit of the doubt. i am glad they are talking about

the range of issues instead of going after gun rights. >> let's talk about debt. awesome. are these a gift? >> absolutely. >> have you crea >> you have created the social security deficit cup. and ten-year spending cup. handy plastic, reusable. >> one of the things we need more of are souvenir cups. >> no tax maier money spent on this at all. it comes from my company, pretty easy for to us do that. americans have to understand how severe our fiscal situation is, and trust me, i travel all over the place and talk to individuals and they do not know the depth of the problem. >> the issue right now and the conversation has been the debt ceiling, which we are about to smack up against. the doom and gloom reporter every morning about the debt ceiling. so spending and debt ceiling to a large degree, while they are

connected, they are different conversations. debt ceiling, we have spent that money. that a difficult from verizon that has come due you have to pay. >> you are borrowing more money to spend in the future. we are borrowing money to pay off past debts. no. if we weren't doing more deficit spending, we wouldn't have to borrow more money. the debt ceiling, last one could you say, the debate was messy. we didn't get a downgrade because the results of that debate didn't solve the problem. president obama, after he got his tax increase, the tax part of his balanced approach, when he came out and said, okay, now, the debt ceiling is off the table, not going to negotiate it -- >> because it's spent, right? $16 trillion national debt. that's money that has been committed by congress. it's been committed by the very people who will fight over

whether we should pay the bills. you go ahead, say congress committed this money. february 15th, interesting on the debt. 9 billion coming in $52 billion has to be paid. >> $2.5 trillion revenue coming into an annual basis, which equals what we spent in 2005. so you have to increase the debt ceiling because we continue to run deficits. >> so we need a budget to move forward. >> how about do that with the senate? >> we haven't had a budget for four years? >> christine, the only time we've produced fiscal restraint in this country, the messy debate over the last debt ceiling. when president obama doesn't even talk about it any time the president comes to congress and asks for additional debt benefit on the backs of our children and grandchildren, we need to have the debate. it should go on and on and on until we resolve the issues.

>> you are around for one hour and 40 minute with us this morning. >> a lot of people don't understand the details of the debt ceiling. but i do think we have to really understand like long-term and short-term implications. we will pick your brain all morning. nice to have you with us. we'll take a break. ahead, we'll talk about what espn is saying. an apology for what brent mussberger said. is that apology enough? back after this.

welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point", wisconsin senator ron johnson has agreed to be on our panel. and jen psaki, traveling secretary for president obama's re-election campaign. ryan lizza. long time, no see, man. how do we feel about this

apology from brent mussberger. they say his comments yesterday during monday night's bcs championship game were inappropriate and they apologize and he understand they were inappropriate. this is what he said when the camera spotted this beautiful young lady, katherine webb, girlfriend of a.j. mccarron. >> i'm telling you, you quarterbacks, you get the good looking women. what a beautiful woman. if you are a youngster in alabama, start getting the football out and throwing it around in the back yard with pops. >> wow. hey! espn said this. we always try to capture interesting storylines and the relationship between an auburn grad who is ms. alabama and the current alabama quarterback certainly met that test. however we apologize, the commentary went too far and brent understand that. >> i think they hit it exactly right. not a gross infraction, but he

kept on talking a lot about it right now. growing up to quarterbacks so they can land the cute chicks. >> the person who is going to be offended is going to be her. if it's okay with her, and then it should be okay with everyone else. he could have pulled back a little bit. >> mrs. mussberger. you just called her beautiful. do you have to apologize? >> she is beautiful. i'm sticking with that. and she's also lovely. mrs. mussberger would be like, hone, bring that back in. >> that's where you need the apology. >> he is 70 something, she's 3 2 3. >> it's a little creepy. my first reaction, once a frat boy, always a frat boy. i don't know if he's in a fraternity.

but i have to give her props. she is a pro. >> we'll talk to jen sterger. the target of a similar thing. brent mussberger basically pointed her out. gave her career. became aed model. she said she thanked him for that very thing. we'll talk to her a little later this morning. also ahead, we'll talking about tracking jaws. how scientists in utah were able to warn folks on a florida beach that a massive 4,000 pound shark was near the beach. a mexican restaurant serving up controversial t-shirts. aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u.s. postal service. we'll even drop off boxes if you need them. visit usps.com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. any time of year. ♪

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welcome back. you're watching "starting point." 30 minutes past the hour. we'll speak with chris fisher. his group tracks great white sharks. and they have alerted police in florida to one. that is a massive one that they track. 2012, officially the hottest year on record for the continental u.s. by a full degree. that's a lot. the second worse year for extreme weather like hurricanes

or floods. the country faced 11 natural disasters that had $1 billion in damages each. alexandra steele joins us life. the question a lot of people are asking, this the new normal? >> absolutely. extreme is the new normal. year after year, we've seen it. and so it is as you see it. 2012 going down in records. and these records date back to 1895. the red showing you record warmest we've seen, and everyone certainly warmer than everyone as well. 55.32. 2012's average annual temperature, besting by a degree, 1998, and as john said, one degree is substantially warm. usually it's a tenth of a degree. that's how much you break a record by. why? widespread drought, worst since the ''50s.

and an absent winter. we have more snow on the ground in some portions of country this year than we had for the entire winter last year. july 2012, hottest month ever recorded in the lower 48. every state in the lower 48 had beau-average temperatures. 2012, down in the records, records dating from 1895. certainly substantial this summer and winter, we'll have to see what happens as we move forward. certainly been a cold snap thus far. >> thank you so much. not the kind of records you want to be setting. two photos of former fbi agent bob levinson who vanished in iran nearly six years ago. they received the photos 18 months ago but released them to try to turn up pressure to help find him. the state department asked iran's government to help find him. homicide detectives in chicago trying to solve the case of a lottery winner who can die

before he collects his money. aruj khan died in july, less than a month after he scratched off a $1 million jackpot. cyanide poisoning can be hard to find. the chemical can be found in a variety of industrial settings. >> if you are going to try to conduct the perfect murder this is a good way to do it. if you worked in a metal processing plant, electroplating, for example. or if you worked with insecticides. >> medical examiner first determined khan died of natural causes, but then took a second look after getting a call from a relative days after his death. and a restaurant in north carolina cooking up controversy. it shows a taco being used as bait. it has drawn national attention after a local reporter tweeted a picture of the shirt. it sends a racist message.

>> using a taco to catch a human being? >> nonetheless, the restaurant owner not apologizing. >> we pay taxes. if you are an illegal immigrant, you don't need to be here or get your job, paying your tax. we just not down for illegal immigra immigrants. >> the owner standing by the t-shirts, which by the way, sell for $35 a month. so many illegal immigrants or undocumented persons pay taxes, we should throw that out there, to the owner, who is clearly confused on that issue. >> not about being against illegal immigration. it's about the shirt, which is offensive. >> it's a little here and here, but good luck to her. go with god. moving on. good thing it's not beach season, because there is a massive great white shark that seems to be vacationing near the florida coast.

amazing video, yanking the 3,500 pound 16 foot shark out of water so they could tag her. look at that thing. they tagged her, named her mary lee. track her on this website. over the last 72 hours, you can see how close she came to jacksonville beach yesterday. 200 yards. >> wow. that visual, poor jacksonville board of tourism. >> 200 yards from the beach. chris fisher, the founder of o-search, tracking mary lee. how unusual to have a shark of that side or any shark 200 yards from the beach in jacksonville? >> well, good morning. what we're finding with mary lee, she is very coastal. it shocked us all. no one knew what was going to happen, where she was going to go when we tagged her last

september in cape cod and she's shown us, she's a very coastal animal. why did she cruise straight to the southeast and begin living on the beaches between jacksonville and north carolina? opening a whole new set of questions up for our chief scientist out of massachusetts. ist really been thrilling. we're seeing from her she's very coastal. >> what else have you noticed in what you are tracking from her? when you say coastal, i think shark on the beach. what is interesting for scientists to see? >> well, in other parts of the world we see big white sharks roam around the open ocean. these appear the north click white sharks, or at least mary lee, named after my mom, is very coast coastal. in and out of beach. and asking and forcing to us ask a lot of questions. what is she eating on the beach? fish, marine mammals, great predators of the ocean, lions of the ocean, beginning to follow

whales into calving areas. it's opening so many questions for scientists. it's thrilling. we are allowing the whole world to follow it free online on the shark tracker. >> ocearch.verte.com. and everybody can track and see where mary lee is swimming. you named her after your mom, which we'll get to in a moment. tell me about the tagging of moor lee? nearly two tons on a boat. what was that like? >> u.s. a very interesting thing. we've been successful in bringing world-class fishermen together with world class scientists. we came together in cape cod last september, and greg skomol was seeing a lot of great whites, and they were shutting down the beaches. we needed to put facts behind the fear, and we could manage

them and people using the beaches safely. we were able to capture mary lee and use a special lift on the side of the research vessel to lift her off the research vessel and put a hose in her mouth and we execute a dozen research projects in about 15 minutes while the shark is out of water so we can get the latest technology, get blood samples to study about reproductive activity and physiological sfres a stress and things, and we lower her into the water and track her. she has ignited enthusiasm. we are turning the corner on the whole fear. people are embracing her in the southeast. putting together the pieces of the puzzle of her life. really thrilling to have created the tracker for science classrooms, educational programs around the world. see the general public and shark enthusiasts loving mary lee. a different kind of relationship that the public has had in the

past. >> how does your mom feel about a 4,000-pound shark being named after her? >> she was giddy. laughing and crying at the same time. it's a big deal to name a shark after someone. we take it very seriously. we allow different members of the crew to name a shark after loved ones. and this is the most legend ear fish we have ever dealt with, home of jaws, massive animal and i had been waiting a long time to name a shark after my mom, and lo and behold, mary lee is a finer. her first question, is she pregnant? will i have some grand sharks? she got a kick out of that. >> chris fisher, founder of ocearch. track the shark. it's really fun. >> he was in utah, he was able to warn the people in jacksonville, the shark 200 yards off shore. >> thank you for talking with us. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet.

>> maybe the shark is trying to fin the people who tracked him. >> oh. coming up this morning on "starting point," rush limbaugh stirring the pot. saying the liberal media is trying to make pedophilia normal. rush, what? also, a look at the new baseball hall of fame class. we'll learn that today. several nominees from the steroid era. do they deserve to be inducted? we'll talk to sports writer diane shaughnessy. the ballot is poison. tell us how you really feel, dan. ri, come back from a devastating tornado. man: and now we're helping the east coast recover from hurricane sandy. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people. thank you, america. helping people recover and rebuild -- that's what we do. now let's bring on tomorrow.

welcome back, everybody. you are watching "starting point." rush limbaugh speaking out against a liberal attempt to "normalize pedophilia." the conservative radio show host say it could be the next step for those that support gay marriage. >> there is a step to normalize pedophilia, and i guarantee your reaction is what happened with gay marriage. it's become normal. and in certain demographics, it's the most important issue.

>> limbaugh citing a column that is quoting researchers that pedophilia is a distijt sexual orientation. and he said that they went easy on kev you know clash, after several men came forward saying they had a relationship with him when they were teenagers. >> why is he talking about pedophilia? not exactly like there is a massive movement. >> it seems to me the movement is to equate pedophilia in some way with gay marriage, and that's what he's up to here, which is absurd. >> trying ton the mind of rush limbaugh which is ra hard thing to break into. >> nice easy topic. senator, what do you got? >> not going to happen. >> no comment, soledad.

next. >> talk about the budget. >> these are my cups, senator. you gave them to me. we should talk about the budget, but also ahead, we'll talk about baseball. you notice how much sports i've been doing lately? >> i love it. >> baseball hall of fame class has players from the steroid years. and dan shaughnessy is really against voting for anybody in that era. we'll ask him about that straight ahead. joins up, next. pinch... and zoom... in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten, you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward.

48 minutes after the hour. a quick look at our top stories. washington's national cathedral okayed gay marriages. one member must be baptized into the church and must commit to life long faithfulness, forbearance. fisher-price voluntarily recalling newborn sleepers. mold can grow between the removable seat cushion and frame, if it's not cleaned

frequently enough. it builds up, which it will. and dallas cowboys are cleaning house, firing rob ryan, two years into a three-year deal. cowboys defense ranked 19th in the nfl. >> do they pay them the third year? >> coach's contracts are usually guaranteed. >> continuing sports coverage. one of the most con 'stro versial sports ballots in sports history. one sports commentator wrote this. dan shaughnessy says the poison ballot remained on my desk, unopened until december 31st. i knew what was in there. hardball anthrax. nothing could be gained by opening it. you like my dramatic read? dan shaughnessy. author of the new book "francona: the red sox years." not a big fan of the big fan

of them, what do all of them have in common, let me think for a moment, the whole steroid thing of course. it's problematic for you. what is at issue here, what is annoying you the most here? >> well, it's not a comfortable position to be put in, we're asked to vote, about 600 baseball writers or ex-baseball writers who do vote, it's a great honor and privilege but it's become very kind of difficult almost impossible to be consistent on this thing, we're asked to consider character, integrity, sportsmanship, you have this class of guys with amazing numbers, many of whom are proven cheaters, proven p.e.d. users with various degrees of appearances in the mitchell report or court appearances, or just not passing the smell test, it just doesn't look right. those kinds of things. so voters are in a bind here. you can't, it's hard to be consistent. you find yourself cherry-picking the cheaters or ignoring the whole thing all together.

>> you wrote this "i've chosen to ignore the proven cheaters until further notice. if you failed a drug test or admit to p.e.d. usage, you don't get my vote. in addition even more unfair if y you don't get my vote if you look dirty. this is how i manage to not vote for the likes of pia zha and bagwell, two guys with no admissions." >> this is not a court of law, we're allowed to make these decisions based on suspicions. it puts everybody in a bad position and the easy way out and a lot of voters are saying you know what? this was the era, these were the times, let them all in, the numbers are great, if the numbers are good enough for the hall of fame i'm going to vote for the guy. >> why not do that? why won't do you that? >> people like clemens and bonds, this will be announced at 2:00 today, probably not getting in, two of the greatest players in the history of baseball but you appear on the ballot for 15

years and there's time to let this thing play out. it's like i didn't vote until i had to on december 31st. now at least i feel like i've got 15 years to make up my mind on some guys. maybe i'll change and come around and say it was everybody, let them in. right now i'm holding the line because it looks to me it wasn't a level playing field and some guys took advantage of this, and some guys didn't, and i feel like you're punishing those who didn't, and it's not the best message to send to our youth, if you would. so i'm holding the line for now. >> you know there's a guy at espn, jim kapel, "i have a message for the bbwaa members," that's you, "who continue to withhold votes from players who used or suspected of using performance enhancers, get off your expletive high horse. we arevillifying them for their actions we condoned but

unintentionally encouraged with our praise." he says your holier than thou attitude now kind of stinks. >> that's fair, too. i'm not disputing that. everybody has their opinion. we have to apply our own standards. since 1939, the ballot has had rule five t asked voters to consider character, sportsmanship, integrity, i'm still applying that. i understand jim's not. so we all make our own decisions on this, but i'm trying not to be judgmental of other voters. it's bad enough we have to judge the players and it's an uncomfortable position, no one can be consistent on this thing. >> let me ask you a controversial question and curt schilling nicknamed him curly haired boyfriend and you called him an insufferable blowhard. you're voting to for him. >> he did it on the level and

borderline candidate in my view, he's not a slam dunk hall of famer based on his numbers. at the same time, i'm giving him the benefit of the doubt because he looks clean to me, a great post season performer and i'd like to think that we're not going to let our petty immature difference the high school stuff that goes back and forth, that shouldn't apply to your vote in this case, whether we like each other or not that shouldn't be a factor. >> i could see that but the numbers -- >> the steroid guys -- >> you're picking the character, integrity clause part five over the actual numbers because others have better numbers than he has. >> well, i mean roger clemens has 150 more wins than he has but again that's not what we're talking about here. clemens is in the steroid thing up to his eyeballs. schilling is not, but as a hall of famer on the baseline of hall of famers curt is very much on the fence, i chose to vote for him this year. >> what do you say about the guys who used amphetamines, greenies were part of the game for years and years and can you

differentiate here? >> i think that p.e.d.s do follow in a different category and there's crimes against baseball, leveling the playing field, against society, humanity. beer was illegal during prohibition and babe ruth i'm told had some of it, so you can go back to, you know, you can go back to this forever and do this. i'm not, we're not in the business of kicking anybody out at this point but i understand when people are in there and rules are being applied to people that are up for it, that question is going to come up. >> dan shaughnessy, you seem so sweet and kind and gentle on tv and your column sometimes is seriously hard core. nice to have you with us. >> well, thank you for seeing the lighter side. thank you. >> great to see you, thank you. still ahead on "starting point," the vice president joe biden meets today with victims of gun violence. collin garde will be there, he was shot four times in the

virginia tech massacre. a bumpy finish to this, a blissful wedding ceremony, just finished the vows and boom, they crashed. they lived to tell the tale. pizza! [ garth ] olaf's small business earns 2% cash back on every purchase, every day! helium delivery. put it on my spark card! [ pop! ] [ garth ] why settle for less? great businesses deserve great rewards! awesome!!! [ male announcer ] the spark business card from capital one. choose unlimited rewards with 2% cash back or double miles on every purchase, every day! what's in your wallet?

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personalized and affordable legal protection. in most states, a legal plan attorney is available with every personalized document to answer any questions. get started at legalzoom.com today. and now you're protected. good morning. our "starting point" this morning, preventing gun violence. vice president biden and his

task force begin meetings today, trying to avoid another shooting massacre, they're also going to sit down with the nra. plus it was supposed to be an exciting way to get married, all came crashing down so to speak when a hot air balloon ride went very, very, very wrong. meet the couple whose wedding hit the ground hard but they are all fine. bitdi ibiting the hand that it afloat? the u.s. government spent more than $100 billion to save aig. why would the insurance giant now consider a lawsuit against the government? she's a model who achieved huge fame thanks to her good look. cameron russell telling girls not to follow in her footsteps. she's here live to explain why in a bit. it is wednesday, january 9th and "starting point" begins right now. welcome everybody, senator ron

johnson is with us, jenn tsaki, ryan lizza, john berman sticks around to help us as well, appreciate it, nice to have you all with us this morning. our starting point is the white house and the national rifle association, could be a little bit of a gun control showdown. the nra accepting an invitation to be part of the vice president's gun violence project. the panel will get down to business today when they meet with victim's rights and gun safety groups. tomorrow, sportsmen and gun owner groups will have their say, an nra representative will be part of that conversation tomorrow. white house correspondent dan lothian is in washington, d.c. even though they've agreed to send a representative the nra sort of sounds on the fence in terms of their participation. it's not exactly a warm, exciting embrace i don't think, dan. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. exactly and i think there's a lot of concern from the nra because they think there's too

much focus on gun control and not on some of the other issues such as mental health such as dealing with violent video games, something they believe contributes to gun crimes out there or violence out there. in addition the nra has been proposing perhaps there should be armed guards at all schools. to everyone, lawmakers should be looking at those issues rather than focusing solely on gun control and so a spokesman for the nra saying they were invited to attend these meetings and "we are sending a rep. to hear what they have to say" so very short response. now what the white house is saying is that while they work on these options, there are things that lawmakers can already do, such as reinstatement of the ban on assault weapons, closing some of

the loopholes around background checks and also limiting high capacity magazines, those are things they say they can get working on right away, but that there are these other options that could be put on the table, the president looking for those options by the end of this month. >> why is walmart not in this conversation? it seems like they would not be able to clear their calendars to attend this. >> reporter: that's right, after the shootings they did pull some of their ads but continue selling those weapons and they say it's really a scheduling matter, in a statement a spokesperson saying "unfortunately we are unable to attend but we have been having ongoing conversations with the white house and reaching out to lots of groups and organizations on this topic and sharing our experiences. we take the sale of firearms very seriously and are committed to the responsible sale of firearms." but by the fact that they're not coming here, raising a lot of eyebrows, when you have the nra and other organizations coming

here, there's a sense they should be at the table as well. >> dan lothian, thanks. christine, you've been on the phone with walmart. dan said raising eyebrows by the fact they're not attending. sounds like a scheduling issue. >> reporter: i asked how do you have a scheduling issue when the white house asked you to visit. he said we had our monthly meetings scheduled with our executives in arkansas and there's nobody who can be there. 2.2 million employees and not one of them can be at the white house meetings? he said look we've been talking to the vice president's office, they know where we stand, what we've done and what we feel. we don't need to be at the meetings. >> senator, what do you make of that. when people tell me they have a schedules snafu, i'm a cynical person, i don't believe them. >> probably trying to concentrate on their business and i'll take them at their word. i have no idea what's happening with walmart but they listen to the white house. i think the concern is from people that actually do want to

protect gun rights is that this is a fast moving train to try and restrict those gun rights. >> people don't want to be involved? >> people are suspicious of that. >> why wouldn't it make you say let's be part of that. >> gun sales, trying to grow the economy, that's a good thing. >> so nice to see a noncynical senator. >> the white house is reaching out broadly because that's what they do. they don't expect the nra is going to say all of your ideas are great, we're going to agree to it and sign on, that's the stage we're in. this reminds me of when a boy asks a girl out and the girl says i'm not free for the next two years. the nra has -- >> lose that number. >> -- has staff in washington, has plenty of people, but the scheduling answer is just a little flimsy. >> walmart says they were asked just a few days ago if they could come to the meetings and their monthly meetings are scheduled months in advance and no one could -- >> it is hard to get out of

benton. >> are you kidding me? you know how many corporate jets walmart has going through bentonville. if the white house -- >> they come from k street, that's where they're coming from. >> it's a huge slap in the face to the white house. they're trying to send a signal -- >> is it okay for them to talk about this subject outside of these meetings and that's good enough? they say they have talking to the vice president's office. >> it's a slap in the face to say you've been publicly invited to the white house and you're not going. whenever someone says it's a scheduling issue they don't want to be there. >> it's like resigning saying you want to spend more time with your family. >> people who don't like what the white house is going to propose because they feel everything is moving too fast and don't want to be a part of it. >> colin goddard was shot four times during the virginia tech rampage, and he's now assistant director of federal legislation for the brady campaign to

prevent gun violence, also to be part of the conversation that's happening today with the vice president. it's nice to have you with us. i appreciate your time. so you're going to meet with the vice president, joe biden. what would you like, what would your message be? what do you want him to walk away with from you? >> as a victim of gun violence and as a member of the brady campaign, my job is to represent the voice of the overwhelming majority of americans, of us that want some comprehensive, common sense changes to our gun policy. we need to look at not only just the last major shooting but at the 3 it americans, the 32 of us murdered with guns every single day and how can we best reduce that number and save more american lives? >> is that true, senator, the overwhelming majority of americans want some kind of comprehensive gun reform and gun policy, sir? >> i'm not sure where he sees that evidence. it's certainly not with the people in wisconsin that i represent. people want to protect gun rights and realize it's a second amendment right, i don't see that evidence. >> there are measures colin on

the table, from the white house, universal background checks, tougher mental health exams, stronger penalties if you carry a firearm near a school. what is lacking in your estimation, what would you rather, what else would you like to see? >> all those measures i think make sense. we really understand, there are common ground solutions that respect the second amendment. >> like what? >> also make it more difficult for dangerous people to get their hands on a gun in the first place, a background check. 40% of gun sales in this country every year go unchecked. that's bad policy and doesn't stop a law-abiding citizen from getting a gun but somebody with a history of illness, felony record, they need to get checked otherwise you'll never know about that. we need to start doing that for everybody. >> i covered the virginia tech aftermath and i was there and i remember at the time there was a lot of hammering and people saying the same thing oh my god this tragedy, how did it happen? we have to do something, now is the time, and then that window

closed and it passed, and the same thing after aurora, i can't believe it, how could this happen, innocent lives and that window closed and the moment passed. people have said and i'm curious to know if you agree, is newtown a turning point or in six months will you and i have this conversation again and the time will have passed and the window will have closed and we'll move on to the next school shooting? >> i think it has been a tipping point for a lot of people. our phones at the office in d.c. are still ringing off the hook. activeists across the country are getting so many new members saying i can't keep watching these things and not do something about it. i think there was multiple factors that played into this. i've seen this overwhelming support for something to be done. it's still almost a month out and we're still getting phone calls off the hook and still having conversations with new people on capitol hill that we've never had conversations with before. i'm saying this is very encouraging. we need to keep this up. people understand that they're now going to play a part in this.

so america keep this up. we're going to get this done. >> we were just talking about walmart not taking part in the white house conversations and senator johnson was suggesting there are some folks who feel like this is moving too fast and they don't maybe, possibly they don't want to be part of a conversation that's going too fast, if you will, and i guess i'm curious to know, you don't get the sense there's this equal push about mental health. you don't get a sense there's this equal conversation about investigating violence in our culture, right? i think it's fair to say i see it personally as a three-prong or maybe more pronged problem, guns certainly, also mental health issues and also a culture where violence is celebrated, people target practice on video games all the time. it really is in our culture and yet we're really targeting one element of that. so do we need to target the other things that seem to play a role in this? >> absolutely and i believe the task force is trying to take, like i said, a comprehensive

look at everything. i look at it as a supply and demand. we have to look at the supply side, the easy accessibility allowed to dangerous weapons and the demand people have in this country to pick it up and use it aggressively or use it to solve their problems or resolve disputes. you need to come at it from both angles from the bottom up and top down to see a great reduction in the number of people shot and killed every year. we deserve better than this. we need to believe better than this. >> colin goddard, assistant director of federal legislation with the brady campaign to prevent gun violence, he'll be part of these conversations with the vice president and the vice president's task force today. nice to see you. thank you for talking with us. >> thanks for having me. john berman has a look at other stories making news. >> day three to determine if there's enough evidence to put james holmes on trial, accused of killing 12 people at an aurora, colorado, movie theater. the father of one of the victims says he had a hard time

listening. >> it's awful. i mean just any one of those shots could have been the one that killed alex and if it wasn't, it hurt somebody else or killed one of the other people who are friends. it was horrific. >> holmes defense team hinted at a possible insanity defense. history will be made at this year's presidential inauguration. richard blanco has been chosen to serve as the inaugural poet. he is the son of cuban exiles, the youngest poet ever to receive the honor and first latino. the musical line-up will also include beyonce, kelly clarkson and james taylor. president obama is inaugurated twice, january 20th and january 21st. cnn will cover all of it, we will be there live on the mall starting at 5:00 a.m. on monday. >> look at you flanked by me and zoraida in that picture, charlie's angels. >> one lucky man. >> kids in your backyard, start getting the microphone

practicing be a newsman. >> look what can happen to you. thank you, brent musburger. things getting testy between the knicks and celtics. caramel toe anthony and kevin garn garnett exchanged words. security and police officers broke up after anthony waited for garnett outside the celtics team bus. >> you can't do that, come on, carmelo. they say they spoke on the cell phone and everything is cool. >> melo, come on, man. >> keep it on the court, boys. still ahead on "starting point" a romantic wedding comes crashing down literally when a hot air balloon ride lands all wrong, couple who went through the ordeal is going to join us, up next. and not everybody thinks brent muss berger is a bmusburg

bad for the comments he made. we'll tell you why. well it

the happiest day of their lives

a mazing pictures of a romantic balloon ride, karen and jonathan narcis getting married high above san diego. isn't that beautiful? happy. then the newlyweds -- >> great storyteller. >> aren't you roped in? >> suddenly a gust of wind came by, boom! here's what happened. okay that, never looks good when the camera is doing that rolling stuff happening. karen is in san diego, jonathan is in des moines, the happy couple joining us by skype, the happy couple working it out so they can be in the same city of des moines together soon. nice to have you with us. congratulations on the nuptials that ended kind of roughly. so jonathan, you're afraid of heights. why were you in a balloon in the

first place? >> the proper term would be terrified. >> my apologies, sir. so what are you doing in a balloon? >> well, she said she wanted to get married up there and i said you know what? if i man up for 45 minutes to an hour for a lifetime of bliss, so it was an easy choice. >> there's a lesson here though, right? >> there's a takeaway. >> i think, i on my way to san diego i bought this book, 52 ways to make your wife happy, but you know, i really think that it's like i told karen when she asked me about the book, a lot of guys worked really hard to get their wives but i'm going to work even harder to keep you than i worked to get her and you know, i've been pursuing her since about 2005. >> so 45 minutes in a balloon just seemed like, you know, part of the deal. karen, he just really, really loves you. wow. can i ask you a question?

i got to ask karen a question, hang on a second, jonathan. you take the vows in the balloon, 14 people in the balloon, the whole wedding party. it's fabulous, it's romantic, it's amazing. when did you realize that something was going very, very wrong? >> after we missed two landing places he would go down with the balloon, he'd say okay, we're going to land, and then we didn't land, and then he goes okay now get ready again and we're going to land, and then we didn't land. >> were you freaking out? >> the balloon went up high per. >> were yi was like he's got to what he's doing, he's piloting us but when i saw the power lines i got a little worried, and the power grid, yeah. >> oh, my gosh! so when you hit hard, did everyone freak out? we can hear shouting and a little bit of screaming from your wedding party. >> oh, yeah.

>> but everybody was fine. >> yeah. i mean, it wasn't part of our wedding party but there was a person that i think did have some back issues afterwards because we had five other people with us in the balloon other than our wedding party. it was a semiprivate balloon, so yeah, it was very, very scary, and -- >> i bet. >> we didn't know, you know. when i turned around and i saw the fence coming i'm like that's either going to be a good thing or a bad thing. >> oh my god. jonathan, last word goes to you. so next year, when karen wants to renew the vows in a balloon, what do you say to that? >> sky diving. >> no, no, you have to understand that i found the rose and as soon as i found her, i shared with her that next year on our anniversary we're going to go sky diving. >> please don't. i'm begging, please don't. >> you're worth it. >> how about a cruise, something nice. >> i would book them right away. >> one year from today, we'll see you back here to talk about

that one. nice to have you guys, congratulations again. jonathan and karen, the new newlyweds, if you go through something challenging it makes your married life stronger. >> if it rains on your wedding day it's good luck. they'll have a 10,000-year marriage. >> so great to have them. still ahead on "starting point" it was a wonderful christmas gift, came with a contract, 18-part contract, a kid getting an iphone. we'll talk about that straight ahead. woman: we're helping joplin, missouri, come back from a devastating tornado. man: and now we're helping the east coast recover from hurricane sandy. we're a leading global insurance company, based right here in america. we've repaid every dollar america lent us. everything, plus a profit of more than $22 billion. for the american people. thank you, america. helping people recover and rebuild -- that's what we do. now let's bring on tomorrow.

nothing. are you stealing our daughter's school supplies and taking them to work? no, i was just looking for my stapler and my... this thing. i save money by using fedex ground and buy my own supplies. that's a great idea. i'm going to go... we got clients in today. [ male announcer ] save on ground shipping at fedex office.

welcome back to "starting point" i'm christine romans. minding your business, futures are mixed as earnings season heats up. sales for alcoa beat analyst

estimates, overall fourth quarter earnings for s&p 500 companies expected to rise about 3.3%. talk about biting the hand that feeds you aig the posterchild for the most hated bailout of the financial crisis will consider today whether to join a lawsuit against the government, a lawsuit claiming aig got a raw deal when taxpayers saved it in 2008. the suit led by former ceo hank greenberg comes as aig launches a pr campaign, you're seeing a little bit of it there, a pr campaign to thank taxpayers for the bailout at issue. the irs has taken tax returns starting now drum roll please, january 30th, eight days later than scheduled because of the fiscal cliff. this could have been worse. some tax experts were telling us delays could be a few more weeks. the irs says refunds should not be delayed for most filers and social security recipients have two months to switch to electronic payments. no more paper checks. it's a cost-cutting measure the

treasury department says it costs $had.6 million to send out 5 million paper checks for social security benefits each month so from here on out direct deposit or this debit card and people if you're still getting a social security check on paper expect to hear from your bank or credit union working with the government to transition everybody. >> great, christine thank you. our "tough call" is morning is one i love from an iphone gift from one mother to her teenaged son came with lots of strings attached. janelle hoffman agreed gregory can have an iphone but has 18 rules he has to follow in the contract. number one, it's my phone, i bought it, i paid for it, i am loaning it to you. aren't i the greatest. from that point i am in love with this mother. i think she's brilliant. she gets to check the phone every night, he can't take it to school, he has to share the passwords, there's also an item, no porn, item ten, no porn, a 13-year-old boy, a smart thing to lay out. >> this is worse than verizon's

contract, worse than a gym membership contract. how old is this kid? >> 13. >> he's 13. you know -- >> take the deal? >> i would take the deal. >> of course you would, it's an iphone you're 13. >> all of his friends probably have it. >> don't you remember didn't your mother tell you this is not your house, this is my house. those aren't your clothes, those are my clothes, i paid for them. >> she still tells me that. >> you still live with your mom. >> she tells her grandkids that. >> some of her items outside of the basic like here's how you use the phone, blah, blah, blah, we take it away at certain times, she says you know, do not use this technology to lie, fool or deceive another human being. be a good friend first. >> good mom. >> live your experiences, download music from something that's different than your peers are listening to. >> that one is great. >> i love her. wonder without googling. >> she wants him to be human which is wonderful. i think people in this day and

age could take a lesson, the way people interact over e-mail and twitter and not talking in person. >> it's great and last one, will you mess up, i will take away your phone, we'll sit down and talk about it and start over again. you and i, we are always learning, i am on your team. we are always together. i love her. i want to be this mother. >> get that on your website. i feel that will be a popular contract between parents and children. >> it's a reprint. >> totally, my daughter lost her iphone after three weeks. >> how old is she? 12, going to be 13. i'm stealing this and going to have this contract, too. thank you, janell, you're the best. a lot of outrage of announcer brent musburger's comments. someone joins us and said his comments changed her for life. go ahead i'm not going to get in trouble, it worked in practice. >> oh, god.

ouch. >> that's live. >> it was a live shot. we'll tell you what happened there, didn't end well. we're back in a moment. >> big sale.

welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point." talking this morning with a woman who can kind of relate to what catherine webb went through, the woman sportscaster brent musburger was going crazy over at the bcs game monday night. jenn sterger in 2005 was highlighted on national tv for musburger. she says it was great for her. first john berman has a look at other stories making news. development in the rape and murder case that has shaken india. three of the five have been advised to plead not guilty, brought to court monday under heavy security. angry protests in india about the treatment of women. the victim was savagely attacked

last month and died from her injuries. what was supposed to be a joy ride down a mountain slope turned deadly at a russian resort. the inventors of zorb are speaking out against the tragedy. this youtube video reports to show what happened, two men rolling down a mountain and off a cliff. 27-year-old man died, the other rider injured. zorb's inventors are distressed about what happened but they say they were operating it illegally. >> governor pat quinn promised to sign a bill saying states roads would be safer if everyone learns rules of the road and gets the proper safe driver training. a woman surprised to wake up and find a thief asleep on her couch and her leftovers gone. so she grabbed her trusty

machete, called 911 and held the man until police arrived. parnel says the man broke in the window and had her valuables packed up up and ready to go. the suspect decided to take a nap after he ate her leftover chinese food. >> that's when i took the machete and said no, you need to get back, you need to sit down right here and stay and wait for the cops to get here. i'm not afraid and i know exactly how to use it. >> she knows how to use the machete. she snapped this picture when the deputy snapped the cuffs on 25-year-old suspect christopher weaver. jimmy kimmel live, take a look. >> selena gomez is on the radio right now. is there a volume lower than mute? sorry. >> i saw larry king at dinner, but it might have been just a run of the mill goblin. >> my asian orthodontist says

jessica biel has horse teeth. >> wow, david arquette got old. that's right, i did get old. it happens. >> that was on jimmy kimmel's new time slot at 11:30 on abc. >> interesting. espn responding to the comment heard around the world, here is what they said in their statement yesterday "we always try to capture interesting storylines the relationship between an auburn grad miss alabama and current alabama quarterback certainly met that test. we apologize the commentary in this instance went too far and brent understands that. brent of course is brent musburger and here is what they're talking about his original comment from the bcs game monday night. >> you quarterbacks, you get all the good looking women, what a beautiful woman. wow. >> a.j. is doing some things right. >> whoa, security, youngster in alabama, start getting the football out and throw it around

the backyard with pop. >> that was catherine webb, she's dating alabama's quarterback, a.j. mccarron. turns out not the first time that musburger highlighted a beautiful woman in the stands. back in 2005 a camera showed some pretty girls at a florida state game. >> 1,500 red-blooded americans just decided to apply to florida state. >> one of those women was jenn sterger and joins us this morning to talk a little bit about that. nice to talk to you, jenn. thank you for being with us. some felt like it was a big deal and kind of offended by what brent musburger said about catherine webb, i think she's beautiful, he went on maybe oohed and aahed a little bit long but what did you think of it? >> you know i think brent honestly, he's a really great guy. maybe he went a little overboard and got carried away, what else was he supposed to be talking about? did you see the score of the

game? it was boring to look at. >> back in 2005 we were just showing that clip you and a bunch of girlfriends decided to dress up as scantily clad cowgirls. was the point to get on tv, was that what you were hoping to do? >> no, it just randomly happened. it was one of those things, unlike catherine webkatherine w, 20-year-old me thought i could run around like that looking at a football game. it was 90 degrees so what else do you play. >> 1,500 red blooded americans, and actually had a huge effect, walk us through what happened after that. >> actually, at least we a really cool catch phrase when he said that for me. you know, it wasn't as instantaneous as it was with webb. it was literally could you watch her twitter followers climb overnight. it was insane, but with me, it was much more subtle, like it

happened over time, it was me interacting with people on message boards. unfortunately, you know, espn didn't do me the favor of putting my name below so that i could capitalize off of it and get more twitter followers that way. thanks, guys. but -- >> back then twitter it was totally different and twitter allows to you frame your response. when i talked to katherine webb, she was laughing about the whole thing and i think it allows her to kind of say instead of letting other people weigh in, some people were very nasty to you in the wake of that. >> exactly. >> what happened? >> this is back with me it was back during the days of like facebook and myspace and who uses myspace anymore. it was a lot harder to communicate with people. that's why i took to the message boards to defend myself. look, i'm 21 years old, out having a good time with my girl friends, that's how i kind of grew. katherine's was just a much larger scale than that and she seems to be taking it much better and has a better head on her shoulders than 21-year-old

me does. >> she has a publicist now. step one, hire a publicist. >> those help a lot. >> for my 90,000 followers who have joined. espn has apologized sort of on behalf of brent musburger. you actually thanked him, right? >> absolutely. you know, i credit two people with putting me on this crazy journey that i've been on, i credit brent and that guy up there. that's the only people that i really can thank for it. i ran into him at the university of oregon and he knew exactly who i was and i just thanked him, honestly i couldn't have done this without you. jenn i pointed you out in the crowd because that's what my camera guy gave me to work with. the director in the booth is who is call the shots so brent is commenting on it until they give him the next shot to comment on. the game was ugly so there wasn't much to comment on, on the field. >> that is true, filling a lot of time and someone takes a shot and if you're doing the commentary you got to comment on what is on camera at this

moment. you've par laid into modeling and did you pose for "playboy"? >> yeah, i posed for "playboy." >> who hasn't? >> yeah, you know -- >> you've done some acting, john berman is raising his hand to tell me he hasn't posed for "playboy," but i guess my question would be, thank god he hasn't -- i'm kidding john. >> i loved the article in your issue. >> he reads the articles clearly. >> who doesn't? what advice would you give katherine or do you think she's handling it just fine and needs no advice? >> do you know, i think that this is one of those things, everybody walks different and it's not my place or anyone else's place to make a decision what she's going to do with it. i think she has a great head on her shoulders. her family was flattered. i don't think she was offended by it in any way. whatever she wants to do from here it's her journey, embrace it and have fun along the way. don't get too wrapped up in it.

>> jenn sterger nice to have you this morning. thanks for talking with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you so much. it was great talking to you. >> pleasure. >> she makes a great point, at some point, you and i have done this, sitting in the chair and they're showing shots of things and your job during any kind of live coverage of something, you have to or it's weird. >> right. >> but you and john usually don't start talking about how hot someone is. >> get a shot of ryan lizza, wow, is he so wow! >> just subscribe to "the new yorker." >> 1,500 red blooded women. >> was she also, this was the brett favre case as well? >> it was. >> we didn't get into that. did that ever get, was that settled what happened? >> i don't know what happened with that case, do you know? >> i don't know. i mean it sort of went away, drifted off and he was never charged with anything and the nfl let it go. >> this is how she got her notoriety and her fame was that and she's really grateful for it. doesn't see it as a bad thing at

all and talking to katherine webb yesterday she thought it was hilarious, she was with a.j.'s mom, you know, and she was literally laughing through our entire conversation because thought the whole thing was so crazy and funny. >> they've been dating a month, feels like a lot of pressure in their relationship. >> at that age though that's like eight years. still ahead this morning on "starting point," we're just about 24 hours away from the oscar nomination announcements, tell you who are some of the top choices on the academy award short list. she found tremendous success as a model but cameron russell says to young women modeling is not a career path. she'll join us and explain that straight ahead.

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welcome back, everybody. tomorrow morning the oscar nominations will be announced. we're going to bring them to you live at 8:30 a.m. eastern time so who do you think is going to be nominated? what do you think? lincoln for sure. argo for sure. les mis i think. yes? no? >> you have people on both sides on les mis. >> little girls practicing in mirrors with their microphones. >> i want to thank my agent.

and the person who designed my dress. i don't know, i think it's going to be great. there are a lot of great movies out. >> a good year for geeky washington movies like, you know, considering our panel, "zero dark thirty" "lincoln" "argo." >> "silver lining." >> it will be interesting to see if they walk away with a nomination. >> why can't you get stuff passed in the senate like lincoln? >> he had members of congress sitting in the chamber and debating, that doesn't happen anymore. it's unfortunate particularly doesn't happen in the senate. i don't want to get too partisan here. >> it's okay, republican senator from wisconsin. >> you do have that opportunity in committees where you can actually sit around and legislative markups where you debate across the table but when

it comes to the floor, right now we bring all the pieces of legislation and never have gone through committee, and you know, harry reid doesn't give amendments prop to the floor so a piece of legislation just dropped on the floor, vote yes or no. >> how does 24-hour cable change that? i'm curious to know if, i want to understand the fact that every single thing that you do on the floor will now be reflected back, any kind of conversation i think is going to be reported on. >> i think honestly 24-hour cable allowed me to come on when the public sees it and more people see it. i think it's a positive thing. certainly that's one of the reasons i come on shows, to lay out the issues and inform americans. >> do you think it makes it harder to get legislation passed when every little tick of the negotiations is reported in real time? a lot of people made that argument during the health care debate. >> fiscal cliff, too, behind closed doors. >> first of all we shouldn't

have the behind closed doors negotiation. >> really? >> it should be pieces of legislation worked on in committee, have full markup where you have the debate going back and forth and bring it to the floor of the chamber and have amendmented, have those debated and make members of congress vote on things, put themselves on the record and that's one of the things that, one of the reasons harry reid doesn't do it, he doesn't want amendments that are tough for his senators to vote for and that's not what this is about. you should be forced to say whether you're for or against certain provisions. >> i think democrats would be happy to have that as well. you look at the filibuster and how it's become kind of a weapon. >> how did we get on this? didn't i start with talking about movies and parties. >> you guys should get together -- >> "silver linings playbook" what happened with that? let's talk about the oscar nominations that's going to happen live tomorrow beginning at 8:15 a.m. eastern time, a.j.

hammer from "showbiz tonight" will join me along with several hollywood insiders and celebrities to talk about that tomorrow morning. coming up a model who achieved international fame thanks to her amazing looks. cameron russell is telling young woman to not follow in her footsteps, joining to us explain why, coming up next. welcome. oh dear, i got a flat tire. hmmm. uh... yeah, can you find a take where it's a bit more dramatic on that last line, yeah? yeah i got it right here. someone help me!!! i have a flat tire!!! well it's good... good for me. what do you think? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

welcome back everyone. few stories we're following this morning. he wanted to bring attention to the superstorm sandy relief effort, so he climbed to the top of a landmark new jersey roller coaster swept out to sea. he placed a landmark flag. when he finally came down he was arrested. check out the video, call it the blindside. >> go ahead, i'm not going to get in trouble. it worked in practice. >> oh. okay. so i'll tell you, in case you missed it, here it is in slow motion again. lee valvic of minneapolis was doing a live shot. the photographer was obviously a little too excited, supposed to catch the ball and run past her,

obviously he ran past her a little too close. >> he checked her. >> she was in the way. no one luckily was hurt. pretty amazing video, the perils of the live shot. >> wow. >> she looked like she was hurt. >> she really did look like she was hurt. 25-year-old model who has spent a decade walking high fashion runways in paris and new york and done shows for victoria's secrets and photos in international fashion magazines but she gave a tedex speech and had advice for young girls who want to be just like her. >> the next question people ask me, can i be a model when i grow up and the first answer is i don't know, they don't put me in charge of that, but the second answer and what i really want to say to these little girls is why? you know, you can be anything. saying that you want to be a model when you grow up is akin to saying you want to win the powerball when you grow up. you know, it's out of your control and awesome and not a career path. >> it's awesome but not a career

path. that speech went viral, cameron russell, 90,000 views on youtube and cameron joins us this morning. it seems contradictory, a woman wildly successful in modeling advising people this is not a career path, but for new some ways it has been a career path. is it contradictory? >> i think what i was trying to say was not that you shouldn't pursue modeling if you can be successful, because it's been really great for me. i've received so many amazing benefits, i paid to go to college all of these people, you have to have the genetics to become a model. >> i encourage people to check out your tedex talk. i made my girls watch it and they loved it. here's what you say in this talk about kind of the you that we see in magazines and the real you. listen. >> for the past few centuries we have defined beauty not just as

health and youth and symmetry that we're biologically programmed to admire, but also as tall, slender figures, and femininity and white skin, and this is a legacy that was built for me and it's a legacy that i've been cashing out on. >> you talk about constructions, you say this is me at a slumber party and the next day here i am wearing some fabulous designer. we have that clip, let's play that. >> this is what i looked like with my grandma a few months earlier. here's me on the same day as this shoot my friend got to come with me. here's me at a slumber party before i shot french "vogue" here's me on a soccer team in a moog scene and here is me today and i hope what you're seeing is these are not pictures of me. they are constructions. >> are you conflicted that you're part of this construction? because my daughters, who are 10 and 12, look at the construction

and say, i want to be that, and you're saying, that's not real. that's not even you. you're this other real thing. >> yeah, that's one of the things i hope that i would communicate is that look, nobody looks like this in real life. in real life i look dorky and normal, and my friend is going to kill me for putting that picture up but i wanted little girls to see in real life nobody looks like that and i think that if there are any costs to this, the benefits outweigh it. here i am on cnn talking about body image and having a clip about race and privilege in america which we don't get to talk about. >> not many talk about beauty privilege and certainly not people who won the beauty privilege lottery. why is that your mission? >> i think that it's a great place to talk about issues that are uncomfortable and complicated. you know, for example -- >> i like that so much. >> you're a senator, but you're a white man, and i'm sure you had to work really hard to get there, and that means that it's very complicated to figure out how to unpack the, you know,

role of privilege in that but for me it's so easy. i am here completely i'm successful because i'm pretty, and that's it, and it's easy to tell that story because it's honest and obvious. >> aren't there plenty of people who are beautiful and didn't work in and put in the hours you had to put in to reach where you are in your career? it's not just beauty, right? it's not just genetics? >> 98% of it is. to get in, to get the job, you have to look a certain way, and then certainly you have to work hard once you're there and be nice. >> so there are no skills, no hard work involved. >> there totally is hard work but having a bad haircut is more important than hard work and gaining 20 pounds is more important than hard work. so. >> you majored in economics and political science at columbia university. what's the long-term goal? will we have you on to talk about the fiscal cliff in 15 years from now? >> i would love to talk about the fiscal cliff. >> we'd love to have you on to talk about the fiscal cliff. what do you see is your

long-term plan for you? >> well during the summer i started a consulting firm to help people build participatory art and media platforms. >> is this the big bed lab. >> we're starting a fashion magazine that deals with participation. right now in fashion we have this huge online community that's so engaged and as creators and participants and that needs to be tapped into. >> i'm so interested to follow where you go because i think your message for women is just fantastic and to use your opportunities that you've had to talk honestly about it. people really don't do that. you like making people uncomfortable and i enjoy that as well. >> maybe i'll go work in modeling. >> she's making people think, that's a wonderful thing. debris. >> give him some advice about being a successful model. >> it's all about posing. >> big magazine writer. >> we're going to take a break. "end point" is next. thank you cameron russell for being here.

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